BADGEROW FAMILY IN CANADA   

    Beginning about 1800 Americans began moving to Ontario, Canada apparently to take advantage of Land Grants offered by the British government. Many of the second generation Badgerow families in New York and Vermont joined in this migration. Two of the first settlers of Markham Township were twin brothers Martinias and Justin Badgerow, both sons of Justin Bergereau.  On October 5, 1802 they filled a petition for 200 acres in Lot 3, Concession 7. The 1837 Home District Directory lists seven Badgerow families living near Toronto. By the 1830's the Americans living in Ontario developed a dislike to the way the British government did things. One man, William McKenzie, began organizing a revolt to kick the British out and replace them with an American style democracy. Most of the Badgerow families in Ontario supported McKenzie. McKenzie launched his rebellion in 1837.  A few skirmishes were fought but the British troops soon put down the revolt. The British then began arresting the participants but the leader, McKenzie, escaped and fled back to New York. One Badgerow family member, Cyrus Badgerow, fled to Michigan and he settled at Burns Township in Shiawassee County. But one participant, Oliver Badgerow, was arrested and he served time in Kingston Prison.

    After he got out of prison Oliver Badgerow joined the infamous Markham Gang. This gang was an outgrowth of the McKenzie Rebellion and they stole horses and cattle and generally terrorized the countryside around Toronto in the 1840's. The police eventually caught up with Oliver Badgerow and he was said to have been shot and killed in front of his barn door. He was buried immediately and after the grave was filled a slab of concrete was poured over it. Apparently they wanted to be sure they had seen the last of Oliver Badgerow. Oliver Badgerow never married but he did have a mistress who bore him several children. One of his sons, Alfred Badgerow, is buried at the Hemlock Cemetery in Saginaw, Michigan.

    A prominent member of the Badgerow family in Ontario was Martin Badgerow. He was the son of Justin Badgerow and Elizabeth Austin and a grandson of Justin Bergereau and Anna Gordon. Martin Badgerow bought some land in Scarborough Township where he raised sheep. He also set up a business at the town of Malvern where he made woolen cloth. Martin was proud of the Scottish ancestry of his grandmother and he often referred to himself as Martin "Harris" Badgerow. This may also referred to the Harris Tweed cloth he made. Martin Badgerow married Elizabeth Harrington and they had five known children. Several of his sons later moved to Michigan. One son, Gordon R Badgerow, became a prominent lawyer in Sioux City, Iowa and later a real estate developer in Tacoma, Washington.

    Old Canadian records mention a Badgerow family cemetery. This cemetery was located on the old farm of Martinias Badgerow in Lot 7, Concession 2 of Markham Township. In his will Martinias Badgerow bequeathed that the quarter acre of land where the family graves were located be marked off and maintained as a family burial ground forever. Unfortunately forever came to an end in 1975 when the Markham Town Council authorized the closing of the Badgerow family cemetery. All the people buried there were moved to the Markham Town Cemetery and the area  is now built up with houses.